Huai'an County is the most inconspicuous small county of Wang Shichong's eight counties, it is located between Runan County and Nanyang County, that is, today's Qinyang County and Sheqi County in Henan, the south is the famous Tongbai Mountain, and the Huai River originates in the Tongbai Mountain of Huai'an County. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Although the area of Huai'an County is small, but the population is quite large, mainly because it did not suffer from the impact of the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, plus when Zhu Wei destroyed Xiangyang and Nanyang, a large number of people in Nanyang County fled to Huai'an County for refuge, so that the population of Huai'an County once soared, although after Zhu Ji's defeat, many people in Nanyang have moved back one after another, but there are still many people who stayed in Huai'an County.

Huai'an County is the territory of the Sui army Zhang Zhenzhou, before Wang Shichong was ready to usurp the throne, Zhang Zhenzhou and Yuwen Chengdu were transferred out of Luoyang, Zhang Zhenzhou led the army to be stationed in Huai'an County, although Zhang Zhenzhou had been killed by Wang Shichong, but his army did not leave Huai'an County, which was also Wang Shichong was afraid that this army would rebel and they reached a compromise, allowing this Huai'an army to be stationed in Huai'an County, and appointing Guo Shiheng, a general under Zhang Zhenzhou, to command the army, as the other side of the compromise, Guo Shiheng promised to be loyal to Wang Shichong.

But as the Tang army began to attack Wang Shichong from two directions, and the Northern Sui army swept through Jingzhou, Guo Shiheng realized that Wang Shichong would not last long, so Wang Shichong ordered him to support Nanyang County three times, but Guo Shiheng did not move his troops under various excuses, and even directly sent someone to assassinate the proclamation official on the road for the third time, saying that he had not received any order.

The reason why Guo Shiheng did not move was because he needed to continue to observe whether the Tang army destroyed Wang Shichong or the Northern Sui annexed the Central Plains, which was related to his future and fate.

Guo Shiheng is about thirty-five or sixteen years old this year, a native of Luoyang, tall and burly, with a big beard, although his appearance is rude, but he is a fine person, and he is quite scheming, for example, Wang Shichong after killing Zhang Zhenzhou, he took retreat as an advance, and was the first to hand over the military power, and went to Luoyang to be idle with peace of mind, and when Yang Gongqing could not control the Huai'an army, Wang Shichong immediately thought of him, thinking that he was the least in love with military power, and should be more reliable, so he reappointed him as a general and led the army to sit in Huai'an County.

On this morning, Guo Shiheng was sitting in the big tent reading a book, when a soldier reported at the door: "General Qiyu, General Tian asks to see!" ”

Guo Shiheng was stunned, didn't Tian Zan shoot Wang Ren and surrender to the Sui army? How could he come to find himself, he realized in a turn of his mind, this must be Tian Zhan who was ordered to come, and he immediately ordered: "Quickly invite General Tian to come to the big tent to see me!" ”

Not long after, Tian Zan walked into the big tent quickly, and Guo Shiheng stepped forward and said angrily: "You killed Wang Renze, do you dare to come to see me?" ”

Tian Zan smiled slightly, "Could it be that brother Fei ambushed the knife and axe man in the tent?" ”

Guo Shiheng laughed, if he really wanted to arrest Tian Zhan, how could he allow Tian Zhan to bring a sword into his big tent, but Tian Zhan saw through it at a glance, the two smiled and hugged tightly, Guo Shiheng invited him to sit down, and put wine and cloth dishes in the tent with his own soldiers, the two sat down opposite, Guo Shiheng poured him a glass of wine and said: "I heard that the virtuous brother surrendered to the Sui army?" ”

Tian Zan nodded, "I am the Jingzhou Township Party, but Wang Renze slaughtered the villagers in front of me, I couldn't bear it, so I led my troops to break with him, I shot Wang Renze, naturally there was no way to retreat, I could only surrender to the Sui army." ”

"I can understand that!"

Guo Shiheng asked in a low voice: "I don't know what kind of official the virtuous brother has been sealed?" ”

"Zhang Xuan personally met with me and named me the general of Huyalang, if I can persuade my brother to surrender in Huai'an County this time, I can also be promoted to general of Hubenlang again."

Guo Shiheng smiled bitterly, "Brother Xian is also frank!" ”

"What do you think I'm here for?"

Guo Shiheng lowered his head and muttered for a moment and said: "Don't hide it from the virtuous brother, yesterday Li Shimin, the king of Qin, sent his staff member Dou Shilun to see me, and also persuaded me to surrender to the Tang army, and promised to make me the governor of Nanyang and the general of Zuo Wuwei, and give me the title of Duke of Huai'an, and allow me to continue to lead the Huai'an army." ”

"Did my brother agree?" Tian Zan asked worriedly.

Guo Shiheng sighed, "If I promise, I won't see Brother Xian, I just said that I need to think about it for a few days and drag this matter down." ”

Tian Zan immediately understood, Guo Shiheng still wanted to hear Sui Jun's offer, it is estimated that he wanted to wait for the price to sell, he knew Guo Shiheng very well, he was very keen on fame and fortune, and he was shrewd and scheming, he must have wanted to obtain the greatest benefits on both sides of Sui and Tang.

Tian Zan was not in a hurry to take out Zhang Xuan's letter, and said with a smile: "I think if my brother surrenders to the Northern Sui, he should also be a general." ”

"How so?"

"I led 2,000 troops to surrender to the Northern Sui, and His Royal Highness the King of Qi also personally received me and promised to make me a general of the Tiger Ben Lang, and my brother holds 10,000 elite soldiers, and he is in Huai'an County, whether it is a military position or a strength higher than me, even I can be named the General of the Tiger Ben Lang, and my brother must be a general, which is beyond doubt."

Guo Shiheng also felt that Tian Zan was reasonable, and asked after a deep sigh: "I don't know what title I can get?" ”

Tian Zan took out Zhang Xuan's handwritten letter and handed it to Guo Shiheng, "This is a handwritten letter from His Royal Highness King Qi, brother, take a look!" ”

"Why didn't Brother Xian take it out earlier!"

Guo Shiheng complained and hurriedly took the letter, although Li Shimin also wrote him a handwritten letter, but obviously Zhang Xuan's handwritten letter was heavier, Guo Shiheng took it and read it carefully, the letter did promise to make him a general, as for the title that Guo Shiheng was looking forward to, it was mentioned in the letter that when Wang Shichong was eliminated and rewarded for meritorious deeds, the general could be the county duke, that is, he would be named the county duke.

It's just that it is not as good as the county prince of the Tang Dynasty, which is lower than Guo Shiheng's expectations, which makes him a little disappointed in his heart, Tian Zan saw him bow his head and was silent, so he asked: "Isn't His Royal Highness King Qi the title of Brother Xu?" ”

"The letter mentions that the county can be sealed."

"What do you have to regret about that brother, I don't have any titles."

Tian Zan was a little puzzled, he saw the disappointment in Guo Shiheng's eyes, but he really couldn't figure it out, he had all the official positions and titles, what else was there to be disappointed about?

With a turn of thought, Tian Zan suddenly understood, "Brother won't dislike the title too small, right?" ”

Guo Shiheng said lightly: "I don't have too high expectations, I want to seek generals, national princes and the like, I just hope that the King of Qi can give the same conditions as the Tang Dynasty, and I will be satisfied." ”

"Brother means he wants to be crowned a county prince?"

Guo Shiheng nodded, "Exactly!" ”

Tian Zan secretly scolded Guo Shiheng for being insatiable in his heart, but he had no choice but to say: "I will send a pigeon letter back to report, and there will be news in the afternoon at the latest." ”

Guo Shiheng was overjoyed, "If His Royal Highness the King of Qi is willing to be crowned as the prince of the county, I am willing to fully cooperate with his strategy and drag the main force of the Tang army." ”

At dusk, Zhang Xuan's pigeon letter was delivered to Biyang County, Huai'an County, in which Zhang Xuan clearly promised to seal Guo Shiheng as the Duke of Huai'an County after the destruction of Wang Shichong, Guo Shiheng's heart finally let go, he immediately convened the three armies, officially announced the surrender of the Huai'an Army to the Northern Sui, and appointed Tian Zan as a deputy general.

Two days later, the Sui general Liu Lancheng led 10,000 internal guard cavalry to secretly enter Fangling County, which was empty, from Xiangyang County, and lurked behind Xiyang County, waiting for the opportunity.

At the same time, after nearly ten days of fierce siege and fighting, Li Shimin led 60,000 Tang troops to finally capture Nanyang County, and the 8,000 Zheng troops who were defending the county surrendered to the Tang army, and the counties of Nanyang County also surrendered one after another.

Because the attack on Nanyang County took too much time, Li Shimin was worried that Luoyang would change, he ordered Li Xiaogong to lead 35,000 troops into Sui County and Xincheng County to prevent the Sui army from going north from Xiangyang, and ordered the general Liu Hongji to lead 10,000 troops into Nanyang County, the easternmost part, to block the Huai'an army's westward advance, and he himself led 50,000 troops to fight into Luoyang County and advance in the direction of Luoyang. (To be continued.) )